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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Is There A Move to Discriminate Zahid?

A Kadir Jasin

JUDGING by the roil in the cyberspace, the Barisan
Nasional’s victory in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar on June 18 does not appear
to calm the nerves of the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Mappadulung Daeng
Mattimung Karaeng Sanrobone), Mohd Najib Abdul Razak.

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Pro-Najib’s bloggers at home and abroad had revved up campaign
that former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, wants to replace (Tan Sri)
Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin with (Datuk Seri) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a proxy war with
Mohd Najib.

By way of explanation, there are two types of pro-Najib
bloggers - ones who are paid by Najib’s outfit and those who are not paid but
are on his side.

During the by-elections, they trained their guns at
Muhyiddin with allegations of infidelity. That probably was meant to stop
Muhyiddin from campaigning or to blunt his assault. In any case, Muhyiddin did
not campaign openly against the BN.

The Mahathir-Ahmad Zahid narrative could not have surfaced
so soon after the latter led the BN to victory in the parliamentary
by-elections if it was not been orchestrated by Mohd Najib’s inner circles who
handle bloggers and editors of the mainstream media.

Ahmad Zahid, by the virtue of his position as Deputy Prime
Minister, was the BN director of operation for the by-elections. He did well
for the party but had also taken the advantage to promote himself.

Zahid upstaged Najib in the by-elections

Banners and social media postings bearing his name and pictures
outnumbered Mohd Najib’s. There appeared to be a taboo against displaying Mohd
Najib’s pictures in the two places.

Now that the by-elections had been fought and won, Mohd
Najib can start fiddling with his next task – reshuffling the cabinet.

It is in
this respect that the Mahathir-Zahid blog postings come handy. They provide
justification for Mohd Najib to act against his new deputy.

Since the sacking of Muhyiddin as DPM in July last year,
Ahmad Zahid had emerged as the strongest and the most popular Umno leader with
the potential of challenging and replacing Mohd Najib at some future time.

Some say he is genuinely more popular than Mohd Najib. This
has not escaped the attention of Mohd Najib’s inner circles that do not really
favour Ahmad Zahid because they fear that he might not play ball with them.

Their choice is Mohd Najib’s cousin and Defence Minister,
(Datuk Seri) Hishammuddin Hussein. He is weaker and can, therefore, be more
easily manipulated.

So they started sowing the seed of discontent and distrust
against Ahmad Zahid by letting out bits and pieces of negative news about him
including questioning his English language fluency, his past association with
(Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim and, more recently, his “secret” meeting with Dr
Mahathir.

Ahmad Zahid may still be genuinely loyal to Mohd Najib but
if ever the crunch comes, a loyal deputy is less reliable than a blood
relative.

So the talks that Hishammuddin would be “promoted” and Ahmad
Zahid “demoted” in the coming cabinet reshuffle make sense.

Crystal-balling the Reshuffle

For a wider look at the exercise, let me publish an article
by the same member of the Kedai Kopi Assembly (KKA) whose two commentaries were
recently published here. He wrote:

“THERE are two vacancies in the cabinet; one, Minister of
Plantation Industries and Commodities, as the holder (Douglas Uggah
Embas) stood
for state elections in Sarawak recently and was appointed deputy chief minister
replacing, Alfred Jabu, the long serving DCM representing the Dayaks.

The other is Minister in the PM Department responsible for
the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Abdul Wahid Omar. He refused
to continue to serve.

The rumours are two “mamaks” will join the cabinet
becauseNajib is more comfortable with
people of Indian heritage.

It is speculated that Shahrizat Jalil or Kak Ijat to her
fans, would get back her old portfolio as her husband (Dr Mohamad Salleh
Ismail) had been acquitted of the NFC scandal involving RM240 million of which
Kak Ijat said she knew nothing about as she never talked to husband about it
although they stay in the same house and, presumably, share the same bed.

The new Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali used his
discretion to discontinue the case after receiving a letter from defense
council, Shafie Abdullah. Apandi told the DPP to stop case and agreed with
defense counsel that the accused be acquitted after defense counsel spoke to
AG.

The former AG, Abdul Ghani Patael decided to prosecute the
accused and the court ruled that the case must go on. The new AG overruled that
decision after receiving Shafie’s letter to him.

In the “bolehland” of Najib and the AG, all appears to be
“boleh” (possible).So there is no
reason now not to bring back Kak Ijat as all about her family’s business is
“clean” now.

During her absence from the cabinet, their son applied for
scholarship to go to Harvard Kennedy School and another “mamak” at the Khazanah
approved it because Kak Ijat was said to have written a letter in support of
the application.

Maybe the “mamak” at the Khazanah thought Kak Ijat was poor
although she is an adviser to PM and enjoys the same salary as when she was
minister.So the son and his wife went
to America with rakyat’s money. We all know it is easier to get admission for
masters than for 1st degree.

The Indian Muslim Factor

I have nothing against the “mamaks”. From time immemorial,
the Indians and later the “DKKs”, have always have strong influence on the
Malay Sultanates, the British Administration and later the Merdeka era.

Also references to ethnicity and “asal keturunan” should not
be considered offensive since the PM himself declared that he is a Bugis and
DPM a Javanese.

Let us face fact. Under Najib, “Mamakputra” with the
high-powered “mamak connections” enjoy better privileges than “Umnoputras”. Why
should the Malays and the Bumiputras be angry? Mamaks in UMNO are more Malay
than Malays. First Lady’s advisors and key officers are also “mamaks”.

Present
Chairman of Tabung Haji (Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim) is a “mamak” and is a very successful salesman for
second hand cars. He was so good that he could convince the board of TH to
subscribe to 1MDB bonds and later bought land at TRX to help out 1MDB.

And when the land purchase was criticised, he said he had a
ready buyer and TH would make RM5 million in profit. Now we all know that it
was all salesman’s talk. The purchaser never appeared. He forgot that to make
an RM5-million profit, he must sell higher than purchase price plus RM5 million
and more as TH has to pay RPTG and other expenses.

With time, people forget his promise and now we are told that
the PM might bring him into the cabinet and maybe take Wahid’s place as he has
been a successful businessman so can advise PM on the economy, which is now in
a mess.

By appointing two ministers from the Peninsula, Sarawak will
lose one cabinet seat unless PM enlarges the cabinet but it’s OK as, according
to PM, in the recent state elections they supported him and 1MDB has nothing to
with them. Only the Peninsula people have to pay 1MDB debts. So much for the
Sarawakians supporting the PM during the state election. Hope people in Sarawak
and Sabah will learn.

Rumours also say the PM will give up Finance Ministry and
pass to his cousin, Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.He wants his cousin to clear 1MDB mess and give more power to him
politically. The DPM, Ahmad Zahid may be sent to Education and Najib takes over
the Home Ministry.

Remember before he was sacked from the cabinet, Muhyiddin
Yassin was at Education when he was DPM. It seems that those the PM does not
trust would be sent to Education. PM takes over Home Affairs so nobody will
arrest him. Defense is vacant. Shafie Apdal was once Najib’s deputy in the
ministry.

Will the Zahid be happy if he is relieved of the powerful
Home Affairs?There is nothing he can
do.He was told to keep quiet. If he
does not keep quiet, he won’t be PM. He is actually in a precarious situation.
Muhyiddin is Deputy President of UMNO with no powers but will take over
from Najib as President with serious implications for Zahid.”

so much hv been xposed abt d excesses of d family that it is suididal 4 him 2 abdicate now. only devine intervention can salvage d 'razak/rahah' name. lies n untruths hv a shelve life. it can only b xtended by more lies n untruths. power of incumbency gives one almost unlimited space 4 maneuvering . this is exactly what najib n his coterie of apple polishers/advisers r doing now. however there is a saying that remind us that 'we propose but God disposes'. 'we can plan but God is d best of planners'.

granted that ds zahid does not hv d xperience n d westernized oral skills as compared 2 najib. however he has d religious credentials n business skills 2 compensate 4 d shortcomings. he is a survivor in d rough n tumble of Malaysian politics n najib knows that at this juncture, he is very dependent on zahid n his supporters.

my take is that sooner or later zahid has got 2 make his move n d timing has got 2 b right. he can dream on if he xpects 2 get it on a golden platter.

pls do not discount ts muyid completely. apart from TR, he is d only 'leader' that has d qualities of both najib n zahid.

Salam Sdr kadir,mind bending to say the least about your current topics.I dont know how to begin but certainly this article is surely thought provoking.I am concerned about your story line, it seemed to me that we are going more psywar rather than political acument.Honestly I hope the story has the evidence at least the evidence in the making.thats all I got to say, I rest my case, Sdr kadir,selamat menjalankan ibadat Puasa.

1. Debater Safiai Saad, among other things, wrote: "I am concerned about your story line, it seemed to me that we are going more psywar rather than political acument.Honestly I hope the story has the evidence at least the evidence in the making."

2. Indeed. Najib's bloggers and faceys (Facebook users) are already undermining Zahid, and the brouhaha about the RM12-million involved in the released of four kidnapped Malaysian fishermen did not help Zahid cause when his explanation contradicted that of the IGP. Until today we still don't know who is telling the truth and who is lying.

3. Pakcik, if it's true that Tokpa is also leaving, then what's left in Najib's cabinet is not much. Like Wahid, Tokpa is a good man in a bad place, a right man in the wrong place. Najib would appoint only loyalists and apple polishers.

4. Rahman jpc, among other things, said: "only devine intervention can salvage d 'razak/rahah' name. lies n untruths hv a shelve life. it can only b xtended by more by more lies n untruths."

5. Based solely on Najib's conduct, the "Razak/Rahah" name has sadly gone down the drain. But they have other children. You knew Tun Abdul Razak when he was on his death bed in London. You also knew the young Najib (and Hishammuddin) when they were schooling in the UK. You knew them because you're an officer at the Malaysian High Commission there. Maybe the Pekan voters would like to hear your stories. And why should they not. You are after all a Pahangite like Najib.

6. kampong lad, it's no laughing matter. It's true that "mamakputras" are more Malays in their behaviour than the "umnoputras". They have to in order to be accepted and trusted by the gullible Melayus.

7. When I was editing the NST, we published an extensive polemic on the "Mamaks" and the "Mamis". But these days you have to be vigilant less you're accused of being racist and disrespectful. You could even be accused of being seditious.

8. Before Merdeka, the issue of ethnicity was widely discussed. The term Mamak was not widely used. They were mostly referred to as India Muslim and the products of the intermarriage between Indian Muslims and the Malays were referred to by writers of the day as "DKK", which stood for "darah keturunan keling" . The intermarriage between Malays and Arabs resulted in the "DKA" - "darah keturunan Arab". The latter were very influential in the political, religious and literary fields. Then there were the "usuerpers". They were Indian Muslims who changed their "son and daughter of" identification to bin and binti, when the British introduced the identity card during the 1948-60 Emergency.

9. I hope this aspect of Malaysian multi-ethnicity is sufficiently taught in schools and studied in the universities. This is part of our heritage after all.

Once upon a time, they whispered to TSMY and told him to make his move but he did not. When he finally decided to make it, it was too late. Are they whispering to Zahid now ?

Your support base in politics is never permanent. It can be diluted anytime. Look at all past leaders. Tell me who still has that support base they once had ? Only leaders of today can still work on growing their support base with the help of power and money. A good example is Najib himself.

Zahis was a protege of Anwar Ibrahim. He is wealthy bcos of Anwar Ibrahim and he will continue to be wealthy.

The pro Najib people are worried about Zahid as they still believe he is in constant contact with Anwar Ibrahim. Hv we ever heard Zahid make negative comments of Anwar till now ?. But Zahid did make a few negative comments of Tun M.

Since I am not very well versed in English, I find it very difficult to comprehend your last paragraph of your splendid piece, especially this part "Muhyiddin is Deputy President of UMNO with no powers but will take over from Najib as President with serious implications for Zahid".

I feel very highly obliged if you could assure me the possibility of Muhyiddin Yassin having the chance to become UMNO President which means he still stands the opportunity to become Prime Minister?

Datuk,TSMY believed in his boss's promises and was then chopped.If Zahis continues to believe in his boss's promises and occasional handouts which are all meant to gull and quieten him, then expect the same fate as TSMYPolitics is grabbing the window of opportunity, leave it too late, then its too late.Z...d must show and prove he is not so greedy, that he can accommodate the opposition, and reverse his boss's draconian NSC bill and sedition cases as proof that he is more democratic and can work with the alternative media, with the opposition, with the rulers and with rakyat. Then you can bet there will be a dramatic swing in support to him. Try to take over the boss's seat using the same hammer and tactics on the rest will be his downfall.

There a new kind of bangsa Melayu that will take shape under his continued rule - one that is weak, backward, deliberately kept stupid, and who takes pride in upholding the kind of "Islam" that embraces massive corruption with both arms, while being in uproar if the roofs of houses have air vents that look like crosses.

See how the wind blows. H'sham neutralises the army head, appoints someone else. Twitter king already bought over or going to abandon Z ?Z all alone like the former deputy, and sooner or later gets kicks out.Best piece of advice for him is go for it now, or doomed forever.He has the best support now not only within umno, Dr M will work with him.Hope he's not a fool, time and tide waits for no man.

"The Singapore lawyers for Xavier Andre Justo, the Swiss national embroiled in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) saga, have dropped themselves from acting any further, potentially sinking the high-profile High Court suit in Singapore which he filed last year.

"A court order issued on Monday by Assistant Registrar N. Ramasamy approved the application by law firm Damodara Hazra to cease acting for both Justo and his firm Justo Consulting in the suit against The Edge media group owner Tong Kooi Ong and two others.

"The court order also allowed the lawyers to serve notice on Justo by dispatch to the Bangkok prison where he is held..."

Perhaps, we can do similar exercise for Sabah and Sarawak too, after 50 years remaining in Malaysia.

Can the new "Opposition Front" bold enough to offer Referendum as one of its election manifestos? Be different, so you can be counted. If the Oppositions behave like UMNO/BN and expect different result, then you are all just fools, not worth a dime to take over Putrajaya....

"Hope people in Sarawak and Sabah will learn."...indeed, we have learnt the hard way, thank you, but again, it's not to late to learn whether we should be together in the next 50 years, if you will.

About Me

I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).